


Under the Streetlight

by tighthae



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Detectives, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-03-01 11:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13293411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tighthae/pseuds/tighthae
Summary: Taeyong triggers Taeil's flight-or-fight responses. Taeil piques Taeyong's interest.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> found this randomly in my drafts as one big thingy and thought it was cute idk why i didnt post this since i finished... it kind of proofread i think? i dont remember dont expect to not see a spelling or grammar mistakeS (emphasis on s)

“This is fucking stupid,” Jimin whispered. “This is really, really, really, really, fucking stupid,” It was currently night, Jimin and Taeil had themselves crouched against a wall peeking around the corner hot on someone’s tail. “I don’t know how you convinced me to do this. I should’ve just taken the F in chemistry.”

“It was either die on the job or die coming home to your parents holding your report card,” Taeil whispered back. “Which one sounds less painful?”

Jimin weighed her option and let go of a quiet sigh. “Whatever. Are they gonna give us money for catching this guy too? I wouldn’t mind a paycheck or even some, under the counter, sketchy, cash.”

“We’re a club not an actual detective agency,” Taeil pointed, straining his ears to hear if the crook had finished picking the lock. Apparently, the person was pretty incompetent if they couldn’t crack the lock on the staff room. “This guy isn’t that bad either. It’s not like he’s a murderer. A few pranks here and there. He can’t even pick a lock that well. Listen.” Taeil shut his mouth so that Jimin could hear for herself. The silent hallway carried the sound of a screwdriver and a bobby pin grinding upon each other in a keyhole.

“What do you think this guy is up to?” Jimin asked.

Taeil peeked around the corner again. It was still dark, obviously, so he was relying on eye adjustment and the moonlight streaming through the windows to see the objects the culprit had placed next to him. Taeil could make see the shadow of a hammer, toilet paper, a few bottles that could be name brand spray paint, and a liter of soda. Retreating back to his corner, Taeil began to report what he saw to Jimin. “This person is so unoriginal,” You could hear the eye roll in Taeil’s whisper. “He’s just going to trash the staff room. The worst thing he could do is hit us with the hammer.”

“How comforting.” Jimin made sure to keep her scoff mental.

After fifteen minutes of rattling, the lock clicked. Jimin as quick on her feet, ready to jump right into action until Taeil pulled on her hoodie and silently took her down. “You dumbass,” He whispered as loud as he could. “We can’t just jump in there right as he opens the door. We have to catch him in the act.”

Jimin sat on her knees and fixed her sweater. “You’re just as much as a brute as a regular policeman is,” Jimin huffed. “They better not take long, I don’t know how long my parents will believe I’m at Chanmi’s house ’studying’. I think they’re gonna call her parents soon.”

“Do you have the rope?” Taeil asked, ignoring her concern for curfew.

Jimin unzipped her sweater and reached into her blazer; the duo been at the school since the final bell had rung. “Yep,” She pulled out a coiled rope. “Hopefully he can’t overpower us. The guy looked pretty tall.”

“Tall doesn’t necessarily equate to strong,” Taeil reassured.

“Yea, yea, whatever, height complex.” Jimin rolled her eyes.

Taeil pretended he didn’t hear that statement. “How long is this guy going to take-” The sound of wood slamming on wood made Taeil jump. Jimin nearly lets a scream escape but covered her mouth so it would become a peep. “I guess that answers my question.”

Making their way to the destination, Taeil and Jimin, quietly, tiptoed to the sliding door. Crouched down, under the door, the duo tried to avoid the culprit’s line of vision through the window. Although the hallway was still dark, Taeil wasn’t taking chances with the moonlight. Pressing his ear to the thin, wooden, sliding door, Taeil could hear the shaking can of spray paint. Looking to Jimin, Taeil gave a nod that meant “He’s nowhere near the hammer.”. Taeil grabbed the handle of the door and moved it carefully, reducing the noise. It was still open. The incompetent criminal had forgotten to lock it in case some teacher had decided to come back. Though the scenario was situational, a criminal must consider all possibilities when committing a crime.

As dramatic as possible, Taeil slid the door open mimicking what the culprit had done moments ago. “Hold it right there!” Taeil exclaimed, showing his official Junior Detective badge. Jimin snapped a picture with her phone with haste.

“Chanyeol?” Jimin asked, shocked. “I don’t know why I act shocked anymore. This happens every time,” Jimin sighed at her own actions. “Anyway, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way,” Chanyeol bolted through the doors at the other side of the room. “Okay, as usual,” Jimin sighed again and handed Taeil the rope. “I’m already calling the principal. You go do your thing and make sure you do something incredible so we can get free coupons or something.” She shooed the boy.

This was starting to become routine. Taeil and Jimin would catch the culprit and give them an option and the criminal would decide that running is a better option than getting months of detention and community service. Unless they had some elaborate escape plan to leave the city, resistance was futile. As someone who wasn’t in the police force, Taeil doesn’t know why he was running after Chanyeol either. He was caught either way. Junior Detective Taeil was starting to think of himself as a sadist who loved the thrill of the chase. Basketball Star Chanyeol was running to the exit of the school grounds, Taeil was not far behind. Over the years that Taeil and Jimin had been catching “School Criminals” Taeil had built his stamina so he could catch up, or in some cases outrun, the culprits. Chanyeol was unsurprisingly fast, he was the captain of the basketball team after all. Taeil’s lungs began to burn and he could feel a sharp pain growing in his stomach, but he wasn’t giving up. The streetlights and the glowing light in convenience stores began to run together, Taeil focused his sights on the hooded figure. Fighting against his body screaming for him to stop, Taeil pushed himself to pick up speed.

Chanyeol made a quick turn into an alleyway and Taeil followed suit. He couldn’t see but he knew he was close. Well, he was closer than expected. Unexpectedly, Taeil ran into something or someone and tackled it. Groaning, Taeil tried to lift himself up but his whole body was weak from running. All Taeil could hear his own heavy panting and the sound of someone climbing over a fence. Rolling over, Taeil looked up at the sky cut into a rectangle by the two adjacent buildings. Taeil felt the sweat running down his neck and his hair sticking to his forehead. It was a satisfying feeling after a long run even if he lost Chanyeol.

Taeil was enjoying the view until a pair of fierce eyes blocked it. Taeil wouldn’t admit it now, but this newer view was just a bit nicer. The boy had soft eyes which were a juxtaposition of his eyebrows that made him look like they were trying to pierce the window to the soul. In contrast with his strong stare was his nose which Taeil would describe as slim at the bridge but became a cute button at the base. His lips weren’t full but they had a nice shape to them, the bottom one plumper than the top. “That was cool,” The boy leaned back and held out his hand. He took it with reluctance, even if the stranger was cute what can someone expect from someone who lurked in an alleyway. “Do you do that a lot? You ran into me at a really high speed.”

“I know that was a joke and you’re expecting no but I actually do that often,” Taeil said, dusting his blazer off. The one light occupying the alleyway was flickering, Taeil hadn’t noticed it when he was sprinting, it gave the vibe a horror movie would give. “You’re not gonna murder me or anything, are you? Because if you are that would be really upsetting.” Taeil confronts stressful situations with humor. 

The boy laughed and it escalated into choking. Taeil didn’t think it was that funny. “You’re funny,” he said. “I’m not a murderer or anything. I’m a student. A new student at that. My name is Taeyong. Lee Taeyong,” Taeyong held out his hand. “That crest is the same one on my new uniform.” 

“Well, Taeyong, I’m Moon Taeil,” Taeil shook his hand. “President and founder of the Junior Detective club. It’s only me and my good friend but we got to be officialized because of the work we do. You just saw me on the job now.” 

“Didn’t the guy get away though?” Taeyong asked.

“We already got his picture and identity which helps us get everything in between,” Taeil said, letting go of Taeyong’s hand. Taeyong hadn’t let go for some odd reason. “Unless he’s planning on fleeing the city by tomorrow, we can get him the detentions he deserves.”

“What did he do?” Taeyong seemed genuinely interested.

“Standard vandalization. He tried to trash the staff room,” Taeil stated. “Are you good at basketball?”

“Uh,” Taeyong was thrown off by the sudden change in subject. “Kind of? I was on the team back at my old school.”

“Well, they’ll be looking for a new captain now that their ex-captain is either going to be gone or having a serious amount of detention,” Taeil said. “Obviously they’re going to need a new player to fill the space since the co-captain will be captain but that leaves a spot open. I suggest you try out. It’ll be good to assimilate.”

“I think I might do that,” Taeyong smiled. Taeil would’ve thought it was cute if it wasn’t under a dying light bulb in a dark alleyway. “Thanks, Taeil.”

⍟

“Unfortunately for Chanyeol,” Jimin was sitting on Taeil’s desk, basking in the sunlight coming through the window. “His Mom didn’t allow him an attempt to escape the city. He gets detention for the rest of the semester and I get an A in chemistry.”

“Yea for now,” Taeil mumbled.

“I plan on maintaining that A, thank you.” Jimin hit Taeil on the head with her notebook.

“Did you shorten your skirt again?” Taeil asked. “I don’t think it supposed to stop at your mid-thigh.”

“What can I say?” Jimin shrugged. “I like to feel a draft.”

“I’m sure it’s absolutely freezing down there with those stockings on.” Taeil nodded.

Jimin hit Taeil on his arm. “They go with the heels!”

“I should be the one hitting you!” Taeil shielded himself. “I didn’t use the rope and I forgot to hide it under my bed when I got home. My mom thinks I’m a kinky bitch or a murderer.”

“Well, maybe if you caught him that wouldn’t have happened.” Jimin singsonged.

“Well, maybe you do it next time?” Taeil copied her tone.

Before Jimin could respond with something snarky, the homeroom teacher entered and asked if everyone could take their seats. She opted for sticking her tongue out and sat in front of him.

“Before we begin today,” the teacher began. “We have a new student today that I’d like to welcome,” The door slide open and a boy with silver hair entered the room. Taeil thought it was an odd choice of color. “Please introduce yourself.” The teacher commanded.

Taeil groaned inwardly. Of course, his luck would allow the weird, cute, guy in an alleyway to be the new student in his class. Taeil didn’t dislike Taeyong but because he was just lurking in some alleyway with a hoodie on setting him off.

The classroom filled with whispers of things like; “Who is he?”; “He’s so handsome”; “He’s really cute”; “Do you think he’s nice?”; “That’s my man now.”. Taeil expected that because in the dim glow of a flickering streetlight he could tell that Taeyong was handsome. Taeil hoped that Taeyong had enough common sense than to wave to him. Unfortunately, when he spotted Taeil, he put on his biggest smile and waved to him with excitement. Junior Detective Taeil had no choice but to bow his head in response to a nervous smile. 

“You know him?” Jimin pretended to stretch to whisper to Taeil.

“Eh, sort of?” Taeil leaned towards his friend and put his chin in his palm. “I met him in an alleyway trying to catch Chanyeol last night. He told me he was a new student here but I didn’t think we were the same grade. He looked younger than me in the dark.”

“Well, it looks like he took a liking to you quickly,” Jimin said and returned to her original position.

“Hello, I’m Lee Taeyong. I just transferred here from Gyodongjo High School. Uh, I think I’m pretty uninteresting so I’ll end the introduction here but I hope we can have a great year together and we can look forward to being friends.” Taeyong bowed. The classroom clapped and continued to call him cute and charming.

“You can take a seat by, uh,” The teacher scanned the room. “By Taeil! His seat partner isn’t here today.” Taeyong didn’t control his excitement and smiled while he bowed to the teacher. Taeil suddenly wished that they had single desks instead of pairs.

Taeyong bowed to Taeil again and Taeil gave the same response as he did to his wave. “I’m glad we’re seat partners,” He whispered with enthusiasm. “I was worried that I wouldn’t be in the same class as you.”

“Everyone seems to like you so I don’t think it’ll be too hard to find a circle of friends. Especially if you take my advice and try out for basketball.” Taeil whispered back, not looking at Taeyong since he didn’t want to have to stay after class and wash the boards.

“I’ll use your advice well,” Taeyong said.

⍟

“The new kid is Taeil’s boyfriend,” Jimin said, picking around her plate of school food. “He was so excited to see Taeil it was really cute.”

“You’re going to spread rumors and I don’t want the Junior Detectives club downfall to be because of it.” Taeil flicked a piece of chicken at Jimin.

“The basketball team is going to hate you guys now,” Mark said while handing Jimin a napkin while she screamed about getting pimples. “Even if he did something bad they wouldn’t want their captain and star player out for the rest of the season.” 

“It’s not my fault they have to deal with it. Maybe Chanyeol should’ve thought about the consequences of his actions.” Taeil shrugged.

“There he goes, being righteous again.” Jimin scoffed and wiped her forehead with the napkin.

“I’m just saying. Don’t do the crime if you can’t pay the time! He was acting like Mr. Park wanted to give him that F. If he was true student-athlete he would at least aim for C. That’s all I’m saying. But no, he has to be extreme and play on these ”pranks“ on the teachers. He should’ve expected something like this happening since he kicked it up a notch and decided vandalism was a good idea.” Taeil said, tasting the soup. 

“You got any other cases now that you cracked this big one open? I can’t believe you guys cleared Jongdae’s name too. I bet he owes you big time.” Mark commented.

“Jongdae already gave us his thanks earlier today. And now it’s back to the boring stuff. Missing items, he said she said, is my boyfriend cheating on me, all that stuff.” Jimin played with the straw in her milk.

“A big case will land in our laps again soon,” Taeil reaches across the table to grab Jimin’s chin like a mother would to a child. “You just have to be patient, you big baby,” Taeil spoke to Jimin like she was his dog.

“You’re so annoying.” Jimin swatted his handy.

“Can I- uh, sit here?” A familiar voice asked. Taeil looked up to see a shy smile and Taeyong. 

“Sure,” Jimin said with a quickness. “There is a seat right by Taeil.” She pointed to said seat.

“Thanks.” Taeyong bowed to Jimin who nodded her head like Taeil would. 

“I heard you met Taeil yesterday in a dark alleyway,” Taeil gave Jimin a look but Jimin pretended like she didn’t see. “What do you think of our little club?”

“I think it’s really cool,” Taeyong said with excitement. “I’ve been wondering, since yesterday, how it all began.”

“Well, that is quite the story,” Jimin stretched. “So, sit back, eat your food, and get ready. It all started two years ago.”

⍟

“I didn’t steal her fucking fountain pen or whatever,” Seolhyun scoffed. “Why would I? It was ugly as shit anyway. And I’m fucking rich! I don’t need her, stupid, little pen thingy!” Seolhyun looked like she was about to smack the teacher.

“Check her bag,” Suzy demanded. “I know for a fact she took it!”

“Take my damn bag,” Seolhyun swung her bag so it hit Suzy. “I assure you it’s not in there you, conniving, little- urgh!” She clenched her hand around the strap, gritting her teeth. “Just check the fucking bag!”

Suzy looked at the teacher insisting he should take the bag. The teacher caught her drift and took the bag from Seolhyun’s bear grip. He set the bag down on Seolhyun’s desk and unzipped. Carefully, the teacher took all the contents of the bag. A binder, notebooks, water, snacks, a pencil pouch, and finally a fountain pen. One that looked like Suzy’s.

“Hmph,” Suzy took the pen from the teacher. “This is mine,” She pointed it to Seolhyun. “I told you she stole it.”

Seolhyun was speechless. “I didn’t steal shit! I don’t know how that got there! Why would I steal her pen when I have, like, ten pens in the pencil pouch? Does that make sense to you?”

“The evidence is all here Seolhyun. It’s in your bag. Unless you can prove yourself wrong, then your record-”

“My record is and will remain spotless.” Seolhyun gave the teacher down a hard stare for a good minute and stormed out of the room. 

 

“I don’t think Seolhyun did it,” Taeil said, picking at his plate. “She seemed genuinely shocked and angry.”

“Maybe she’s a good actress?” Jimin shrugged. 

“Do you think Suzy had something to gain?” Taeil asked.

“You’re not thinking of actually solving this, are you?” Jimin scoffed.

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking,” Taeil leaned over the table a bit. “I already have a theory. Seolhyun and Suzy are both in the running for valedictorian this year. It’s their last year after all. Both of them have the exact same marks and it doesn’t look like they’re neglecting studies so the possibility of them getting a lower grade than the other is super slim. So, if you can’t determine valedictorian by grade, what would you go by?”

“Hmm,” Jimin gave it some thought. “Favorites?”

“Close,” Taeil responded. “Record. Community service, attendance, behavior, and all that stuff. My guess is that Seolhyun and Suzy are aware of it. They have to, they aren’t stupid. But, just like the marks, they’re both immaculate. So, one of them takes initiative.”

“And it was Suzy?” Jimin asked.

“Bingo.” Taeil snapped his finger and formed a gun.

“So what are we going to do? We’re going Sherlock or what?” Jimin asked.

“Yes, we are,” Taeil nodded. “Google how to make fingerprints visible.”

 

“You want to see my bag?” Seolhyun asked.

“Listen, we’re here to help you get valedictorian,” Jimin said. “It’s a long shot but we wanted to see if Suzy put her hands in your bag without gloves on. You also have to not mind the fact that we’re gonna get your bag a little dirty.”

“Fine,” Seolhyun sighed. “How are you going to get the fingerprints from the bag though?”

“Lucky for us, your bag has leather straps,” Taeil responded. “We just have to make the fingerprint powder and we already stole everything we need from the kitchen and lab. Just leave it to us.”

The process of making fingerprint powder wasn’t hard but it wasn’t something two first years should being doing unsupervised. All you had to do was burn a ceramic bowl and scrape the soot off with a dull knife into a mix measure cup. Once you measured the soot you drop it in your mixing bowl then measure the cornstarch. The starch must be the same measurement as the soot. You add the cornstarch to the mixing bowl and whisk it together. Now you have your fingerprint powder.

Taeil put his gloves on. “Have you grabbed your bag by the tiny strap recently?” Taeil asked.

“I usually just grab it by the big strap,” Seolhyun answered.

“Okay, grab it by the big shoulder strap and hand it to me that way,” Seolhyun did as she was told and handed the bag to Taeil. Once in his possession, he applied the powder until a fingerprint was visible. “I see a print!” Taeil exclaimed. “Tape.” Seolhyun stood a foot from them in case the powder flew everywhere.

“Tape.” Jimin recited and handed Taeil the required item.

Taeil placed the tape over the now visible fingerprint. “Paper.”

“Paper,” Jimin repeated as she handed Taeil the sheet of paper.

“Alright!” Taeil raised the paper to show Seolhyun.

“What next?” Seolhyun replied flatly. “How do you know it’s her fingerprint? I could’ve grabbed that loop thingy on accident once.”

“Don’t worry,” Taeil went over and pat Seolhyun on her shoulder. “I already came up with a plan to get Suzy’s fingerprint.”

“You don’t know even know which finger of hers that is.” Seolhyun pointed.

“I think it’s her thumb,” Taeil said. “I think she hooked her index finger and her middle finger under the strap while having her thumb on top.”

“How do you know which thumb it is?” Seolhyun folded her arms.

“We’re getting both don’t worry,” Taeil waved his hand dismissively. “Just give Jimin, like, ten minutes.”

 

“Suzy,” Jimin called, walking to her lunch table. “Can you sign my yearbook?” Jimin smiled while holding out the said yearbook.

“That’s from last year,” Suzy inspected the book without grabbing it. “And you’re the first year.”

“Well, my mom only gets yearbooks on the last year of a school. She says it’s a waste of money to get in any other time. So, because it was my last year in the middle last year,” Jimin almost choked on her redundancy. “I got this yearbook and I’m definitely not getting one this year-”

“Get to the point.” Suzy snapped, she looked like she wanted to hit Jimin with her lunch tray.

“Well,” Jimin continued. “Since it’s your last year and I’m never going to see you after this, I wanted you to sign my yearbook as my favorite third year.” Jimin held out her yearbook hopefully.

“Well,” Suzy flipped her and giggled femininely; Jimin doesn’t know why Suzy insists on being humble when her actions contradict with her goals. “If you insist.” She took the book from Jimin’s grasp. 

“Why do you smell like smoke and what do you have gloves on?” Suzy asked, setting the book down and taking out her prized fountain pen.

“Oh, you know, chemistry.” Jimin clapped her hands together. 

“You’re the first year,” Suzy said, looking up.

“Well, Choa always needs a hand so she doesn’t blow the whole lab up.” Jimin laughed nervously.

Suzy shrugged. “I guess. What page do I sign it on?”

“Page 32 is the autograph page.” Jimin watched as she turned the paper, holding the book open with thumbs on the page.

“There’s a lot of signatures here,” Suzy commented.

“I’m sure you can squeeze it in with those beautiful calligraphy skills of yours,” Jimin reassured.

Suzy did the giggling thing again. “I guess you’re right,” Suzy did a swift signature. “Here you go, all done. That might be worth something in the future.”

“It’s definitely worth your valedictorian status in the present,” Jimin mumbled, looking at the signature.

“What was that!” Suzy asked.

Jimin shut the yearbook. “I just said it was definitely worth something now, thanks!” Jimin turned on her heels and sprinted out of the cafeteria.

 

“I got her to hold the book!” Jimin shouted in the doorway.

“You just carry around your middle school yearbook with you?” Seolhyun raised an eyebrow.

“I confused it with my grammar book once and I keep forgetting to take it out of my backpack when I get home,” Jimin explained. “It came in handy didn’t it?” Jimin opened the book to page 32, gesturing for Taeil to put the powder on it. The two repeated the process but in reverse this time and got both of Suzy’s thumbprints. 

“What now?” Jimin asked. 

“We tell the principal, duh.”

 

“Seolhyun is innocent!” Taeil exclaimed, slamming her bag down on the principal’s desk.

“We found these fingerprints on Seolhyun’s bag,” Jimin places the paper down that contained the taped fingerprint. “And we got these fingerprints from Suzy though some almost unethical methods,” Jimin placed the second paper down. “And by that I mean I asked her to sign my yearbook.”

“How do you know these are for sure Suzy’s?” The principal asks.

“Well, I don’t think we’re the ones who should be going down to a forensic lab and asking to see if they can scan them,” Taeil replied.

“We thought you’d be able to do that and clear Seolhyun’s name.” Jimin nodded.

The principal sighed. “Well, if you insist that she is innocent.”

⍟

“Seolhyun’s name was cleared, she won valedictorian at the end of the school year and the Junior Detective Club was started,” Jimin explained.

“Aren’t clubs supposed to have 5 members though?” Taeyong asked.

“Technically, yes,” Taeil replied. “But the police force was so impressed with our deduction and detective skills that when I proposed the idea of a club they said they would fund us if we didn’t meet the quota.” 

Taeyong made a silent “Oh” sound. “So it’s just been you two for two years?”

“Mark helps sometimes when he isn’t busy,” Jimin pat the younger on his shoulder. “His friend Eun likes to help us out too. I guess you can consider them unofficial members.”

“The club will probably end when we graduate,” Taeil said. “I don’t think anyone is too interested in solving mysteries. We’ll be put on the wall of fame though.”

“Wall of fame?” Taeyong asked.

“A wall in the principal’s office that important people go on,” Jimin explained. “Chanyeol would’ve been on there if he didn’t fuck up.”

“He was that good?” Taeyong’s eyes widened.

“Yep,” Mark replied. “He’s been playing as a starter since his first year.”

“Taeil,” Taeyong turned to Taeil and clasped his hands. “I want to join your club.” He looked Taeil right in his eyes. 

“Uh,” Taeil was speechless at the sudden intimacy. “Do you really want to? Basketball has been posting posters for the tryouts.”

“I want to get close to your,” Taeyong said immediately. “So, can I join? Please?”

This wouldn’t be the last time Taeil would give into those puppy eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dedicated to taeilismybby for getting me off my lazy ass

"He's in love with you," Jimin said. "You  shouldn't blame the guy for trying to become close with you." Consider it, it's one more hand in the business. you've been complaining for extra help. This makes us official too, not a weird exception. Me, you, Mark, Koeun, and Taeyong. Maybe we get an increase in funding?" The investigators had themselves in the office as Detective Moon calls.  The area was the same size as an ordinary classroom with 1,344 square feet, it left a lot up to the imagination. A standard schoolroom radiated a barren vibe when only five people in attendance. The sense of spaciousness increased ten times when it was only the two active members. At least it gave space for the amount of contemplation the duo needed. "Also, someone willing to take a bullet for you may have good things in store for you. Because I will not be dying for you in this short lifetime."

"Thanks," Taeil mustered up all his sarcasm and let it drip from his lips. "I appreciate your sentiments. Anyway, we have more cases to solve."

"My ass we do. We're in a drought. No, we aren't counting petty cases. After the Chanyeol case, we've got nothing," Jimin sighed and sat on top of a desk. "Everything's calm again. I hate this time of year. I want to graduate with a bang, you know?" She began to swing her feet since she was too short to reach the floor. 

"Impatience never got us anywhere," Taeil assured his colleague. "Something will fall into our laps, it always does. We just have to be patient, that's all. Think of it this way. If we had charged Chanyeol in the hallway without any plan we wouldn't have gotten evidence. We had to practice patience." 

"I guess you made a point," Jimin replied. "Then should we check the requests? We haven't checked them in a bit. We were too busy trying to catch Chanyeol."

"Yea, make sure you remove any requests that have to do with missing items or relationship advice. Also, can you tell the band members to stop putting in requests. All their requests have to do with finding the guy who keeps catching them having sex."

Jimin walked over to the wall by the door, Taeil had asked to have a drop-box installed. This way people would be able to contact them without a hassle. The petty request went into the bin and sometimes there was a genuine request. Those were the only ones Jimin and Taeil took. The duo had to do a few of these before the principal had a big request for them to tackle. It was good busy work. 

"Hey, here's a good one." Jimin threw the other papers onto the desk. "It's from a freshman. 'Dear, Taeil and Jimin senior, my assignments have been going missing and I don't know why. At first, I thought that I had just forgotten my name and teachers can make mistakes sometimes too. So, I ignored it the first few times. Then, it started becoming more frequent. At the start of the semester, I was only missing about eight assignments.  I was able to make those up. Now, it's become consecutive. I can't keep up with the amount of work that goes missing and my grades are suffering. Please help me out. From, Donghyuck (a freshman)' That was a mouthful." Jimin exhaled.

"Theft. That's right up our alley. Here's the action you wanted."

"I guess." Jimin rolled her eyes.

-

"You'd let me join?" Taeyong clasped Taeil's hand and looked him in the eye. "For real? You're not kidding are you? I think I'm kind of a gullible person."

"You sounded like you were interested," Jimin replied. "And who is Taeil to deny someone so eager to help us out? We could use an extra hand anyway. Sometimes, the job gets tiring when there's only two people." Jimin stuck her hand out.

Taeyong let go of Taeil's hand to shake Jimin's. "Thank you so much! I was going to try out for basketball like Taeil suggested but I'm not that good, if I'm being honest. I'm glad you guys decided to let me join. The fact that I might not be able to join a club this late in the year scared me."

"I don't think you'd have to worry about that," Jimin replied, taking a bit of her lunch. "You're good looking. I've heard some people like you a lot already."

"Anyway, we need to debrief you. We've already got a case on our hands," Taeil took a copy of Donghyuck's request out of his bag. "We accept requests during our downtime. This was the most eye catching one so we're starting with it." Taeil slid the paper across the table to Taeyong.

Taeyong picked up the copy of Donghyuck's request and scanned it. "Wow, this sounds serious."

"It's not  _ that  _ serious," Jimin replied. "But it's serious enough for us to get on the case. So, what do you think the first step is, Taeyong?"

"Try to figure out who did it?" Taeyong guessed.

"Wrong. We have to find our client, of course," Jimin replied. "There's certain pieces of information that we need that Donghyuck didn't write down. So, we find him and ask what the hell is up, you know? You don't happen to know a freshman do you?" Jimin inquired.

"I already know who Donghyuck is," Taeil cut off. "He's a friend of Mark's. A good one too. It won't be hard to find him. We just have to find Mark and then we'll find him." Taeil began to get up from his seat.

"Come on," Jimin beckoned Taeyong as she followed suit. "Mark usually hangs out in the library because he's a little nerd."

"Mark!" Taeil called while walking into the library. He met a myriad of hushes and lowered his head. "Mark." He whispered.

Because of Taeil's bombastic entrance, Mark noticed him immediately. Mark's face lit up when he saw that Taeil had come to pay him a fist. "Taeil! You came to visit me?" Mark whispered back.

"Yes and no," Taeil replied as he approached Mark and his group of friends. "One of your friends sent me a request. We needed to find out more information so now we're here."

"Donghyuck," Jimin said. "We just need some clarification. We won't bite. Well, I won't bite. Taeil's rapid so he-"

"This'll be quick don't worry," Taeil interjected. He made eye contact with Donghyuck who was sitting right next to Mark. "So, you said this started at the start of the semester. It's been going on all year?"

"Yea, all year. It kinda sucks. I even started putting my name in pen too once I thought someone was stealing my work. For some reason, that didn't work." Donghyuck sighed.

"Your teachers didn't do anything about this? Did you even talk to your teachers. I know the staff is useless 75% of the time but they have their uses the other 25%." Jimin added.

"Yea. The first time it happened, I thought the teacher had lost it. I told her to be more responsible and we kind of left it at that. Then, it started becoming more common for my work to go missing so I talked to her again. I was kinda mad, I thought she kept misplacing my work so we got into an argument. Then, I went to her a third time to suggest that someone could be snatching all my stuff. Because we had an argument, I think we had some bad blood so nothing happened. And nothing is happening still. So, I turned to you guys, the second best thing."

"I'd like to think we're the first best thing.” Jimin said.

“Well, what class was this in?” Taeyong asked.

“Literature with Mrs Seo! That’s why I’m so pissed off. The teacher is old fashioned so I have to do everything by hand. This is why I wish online assignments became the normal thing to do.” Donghyuck groaned.

“I think online assignments are the normal thing. You’re teacher is just about to put it in a coffin,” Jimin nodded to herself. “Anyway, thanks for your cooperation. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible with a lead.”

“Now, we do some investigating,” Jimin said as they exited the library. “I’d like to think this is the most entertaining part.”

“Where do we start?” Taeyong asked.

“Mrs Seo’s literature class.” Taeil said.

“Tomorrow though,” Jimin said. “This already drained my energy.”

-

“You can’t be in here during school hours you tw- three?” Mrs Seo said as they trio entered the classroom.

“Uh, yea, we can,” Jimin folded her arms. “The police gave us these cute, little, warrant thingies for operations during school hours,” Jimin pulled out the yellow slip from her breast pocket and handed it to the teacher. “We just need to ask a few questions. Did you or did you not speak to Donghyuck about his missing assignments?” Jimin slammed her fist on the desk as she spoke through gritted teeth.

“Jimin,” Taeil said slowly as he placed his hand on her shoulder. “This is not a student. We gotta go about this differently. Mrs Seo, your student, Donghyuck, said that his work started to go missing. He said he talked to you about it but it ended up going cold. So, we just want to confirm his statement.”

“I wanted to help that little boy but he was being very rude. Also, it was very hard to even prove his claim.”

“Weak statement,” Jimin mumbled. “Anyway, if you don’t mind, we’ll be asking your students some questions.”

“Do you know Donghyuck?” Taeil asked a random student while holding his notepad.

“Uh, I know  _ of  _ him.”

“Same thing. Name?” Taeil asked. 

“Jang Subin.”

“So, Subin. Has your work gone missing recently? Work that you’re sure you did but someone ended up as a missing assignment.” 

“Now that you ask me,” Subin thought for a moment. “Last semester, we had this assignment. You were given one word and you had to make a story with the syllables. Kind of like an acrostic poem. My story was pretty cool, it was about a dragon. I know I did it. Then, it went missing. I bugged the teacher about it and she said she’d try to find it but she never did. So, I turned in the same story again. She accused me of plagiarism and I got detention. It was fucking stupid.”

“Name.” Jimin said.

“Uh, Kang Mina.”

“You know Donghyuck?”

“Yea, we have another class together.”

“Cool,” Jimin replied. “Have any of your assignments went missing?”

“No,” Mina shook her head. “But, I heard about a lot of kids starting to lose their assignments. I started to write my name in pen all over my assignments. Kind of like a watermark. They haven’t been stolen yet.”

“So, this is a regular thing?” Jimin asked.

“I wouldn’t say regular. But, it’s something to look out for.” 

Jimin nodded and scribbled down her findings. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Taeyong in the corner of the classroom. “Taeyong!” She called. “Talk to these girls for me.” Jimin pointed to the group of girls who were giggling and pointing at him. 

Taeyong approached the girls. “Hi,” He said. “Uh, names?” Taeyong hoped that was the correct way to do things.

“What’s your name?” One of the girls asked.

“Uh, Taeyong?” Taeyong wasn’t sure how to handle this situation. “I just have some questions for you guys-”

“Do you wanna eat lunch with us?”

“I-, uh.”

“Girls,” Taeil said. “This is serious. Don’t goof off. I know this guy is good looking but he’s only apart of our club now. So, let him do his job. Names.”

“Jung Yein.”

“Lee Chaewon.”

“Kwon Eunbin.”

“Have any of your assignments went missing?”

Two of the girls shook their heads in response but one spoke up. “Uh, mine.”

“What was the specific assignment?” Taeyong asked.

“A worksheet. I know I did it though. My friend wanted to copy me so I took a picture when I was done and sent it to her. Then, it went missing. I thought the teacher had lost it and was hoping she would find it. That didn’t happen though. I have proof that I did it though.”

“Alright, thank you for your time.” Taeyong smiled and nodded.

-

“So, what do we have?” Jimin asked.

“I asked Mrs Seo to give us the story that had to do with a dragon or whatever. Turns out that a Renjun was written on it. But, there was no Renjun in the class. Apparently, literature is the guys second class, we were in her fourth class, and Donghyuck attends her first class. Nothing is adding up.” Taeil placed the pen he was holding on his chin.

“Well, it makes sense,” Taeyong said. “People from different class periods are stealing because it’s harder to get caught that way. The teacher wouldn’t bother looking through every single paper to find matching handwriting.” 

“That’s valid,” Jimin nodded. “One of the girls said that this was kind of a common thing. Shouldn’t the teacher be more proactive in trying to stop it? If it’s gone on for so long wouldn’t the teacher know about it? I find it hard to believe Mrs Seo still hasn’t done anything despite three people complaining already.” 

“Do you think other teachers have had the same problem?” Taeil asked.

“Wouldn’t we have heard about it beforehand? Someone would’ve found out and told us, no?” Jimin bit her nails.

“Well, it looks like we have our next big case.” Taeil sighed.

“We should start with interrogating Renjun,” Taeil pointed to himself. “That’ll be my job. Jimin, ask other teachers if their students have been reporting the work going missing. Taeyong, you’re handsome, people want to talk to you. Get as many people as possible to tell you what they know.”

“You think I’m handsome?” Taeyong asked.

“Don’t play with me. Everyone thinks you’re good looking.”

-

“You’re Renjun, right?” Taeil asked, sitting down at the boys table. “I have a question or two for you. And don’t try to run, I’ve been doing this for awhile. I will catch up to you,” Taeil pulled out the paper from his bag. “So, you didn’t try that hard to hide the fact that you stole this. I just wanna know if you did it more than one time. You might as well answer me too. You’ve already got a detention set up.”

“I, uh,” Renjun thought for a moment. “Yea, Okay, I stole a few of Subin’s papers, so what? He has good marks. It wouldn’t have made a difference.”

“Stealing is wrong, how about that? Anyway, since we know you did it I just wanna know why.” 

Renjun looked to his friends, asking for permission with his eyes. “Can you keep a secret?” Renjun whispered, leaning over the table.

“It depends on what the secret is. If you’re asking if you can trust me, yes, you can trust your senior.” Taeil placed his hand on his heart.

“Well, have you noticed that all the D average students have gone missing? Not, like, a serious missing but they’ve stopped showing up.” Renjun said.

“Well, why would bad students show up? If they stopped showing up wouldn’t that just be on their own accord?” Taeil folded his arm.

“That’s what we thought at first,” Renjun continued. “Then, our friend, Jeno stopped attending school. We’ve been trying to talk to him about it, but he won’t say anything. He did let something slip up, though. He got really mad that we kept bugging him about it. He said: ‘The school told me not to come so I’m not coming!’ or something like that. I don’t know why he was angry.”

Taeil nodded slowly. “What’s his last name?”

“Lee.” 

“Alright, thank you for cooperating, I’ll see what I can do.”

-

“So, you’re telling me, several people have come to you about some missing assignments and you haven’t done anything about it?” Jimin asked. “Bullshit. You and I both know that you know what’s going on around here. It’s happened in one class already to several people. The students know about it too! Don’t play dumb with me, Mr Kim.”

“Suppose I did know about this problem with stealing other people’s stuff. What am I supposed to do about it?” Mr Kim asked, frustrated with Jimin.

“Uh, maybe, do your fucking job? Report it to the principal? Something! It’s not fair that the grades of one student suffers because another student was too lazy to do their own shit! Are you really a teacher if you let this continue? I’m sure you job would be at stake if I told the principal about whatever’s going down.”

“I don’t have time for this,” Mr Kim, rubbed his temples. “Please, leave.”

“Fuck off,” Jimin said, storming off. “Taeil,” She said, he had picked up as soon as she called. “The teachers are playing stupid with me. Mr Kim swears he doesn’t know what’s going on and he said that if he did he wouldn’t be able to stop it! He didn’t even flinch when I threatened to tell the principal.”

“Hm, that’s weird,” Taeil responded. “I spoke to Renjun about the stealing. He told me some of the students with low grades have been going missing. I can just assume that he has low grades too and was stealing work so he wouldn’t be kicked out. I’m still not sure what the school has to do with it. Renjun said his friend told him something like that.”

“Well, that means there’s several culprits then, right?” Jimin asked. “We haven’t caught the guy who’s stealing from Donghyuck but we’ve got someone with a motive. Doesn’t this mean that all the freshmen know about this?”

“Do you think the teachers know too? You said Mr Kim didn’t react when you said you’d tell the principal, right? What if all the teachers are in on it too? It’s possible.” 

“How poor is our school, Taeil?” Jimin asked. 

“Not that poor, I don’t think.” Taeil replied.

“And schools get funding through test scores, no? The higher the scores the money we get. If the school is really in on this, maybe they’re going out of their way to take down the not-so-good students to raise the test score. If you don’t have any bad students testing, the score will average out higher.” 

“Would the school really do that?” Taeil asked.

“I don’t know. The librarians always goes on and on about how they need more money for the facility. Students always complain about the state of textbooks too. I think it sounds like something the school would do.”

“We’ve got a big case on our hands then.” Taeil sighed.

“What’s the next step?” Jimin asked.

“We gotta give Jeno a visit,” Taeil said. “This’ll become a big problem if we don’t solve it before finals.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes i took 8 years to write this no its not proofread and yes i expanded it by 1 chapter but in the end I think we should all just appreciate how dead 2tae is in the real world

“So, how are we gonna get Jeno’s address? Are we about to do something complicated and contrived. We could’ve just asked his friends.” Jimin pointed out, trailing behind Taeil as he made his way down the hallway.

“I don’t want to bother him with anymore questions,” Taeil responded. “And if this becomes a big case, we want a flashy story to tell won’t we?”

“You willingly want to do something flashy?” Jimin asked. “Out of character. Are you sure you aren’t in on this?”

“Colleges will look at our little interviews and stuff. If we show our critical thinking and problem solving skills, then they’re more likely to give us scholarships! The police department would also put in a good word for us. Use your head.”

“Or we could lie! How’s that idea? I love that idea. Minimum effort, maximum reward.” Jimin nodded to herself.

“See, this is what separates me from you. They might as the attendance lady if we really asked her for Jeno’s record. If she’s no, we look stupid and our dreams of a financially stable future are gone,” Taeil made the sound effect he thought would suit his metaphor. “Like sand in a windstorm.”

“Okay, whatever you say dude,” Jimin replied. “I’m glad we’ve got a big case though. Imagine having to wait to the last week of school for something big to happen? That would suck major a-“

“Where are you two headed?” Taeyong, seemingly, came out of nowhere as the duo rounded the corner.

“Oh, hey, dude,” Jimin waved to Taeyong. “We’ve got some super, serious, business to take care of. You know, detectives and all. Did you find anything interesting? It might add to what we already know.”

“Uh, no,” Taeyong laughed and scratched his head. “What did you guys find?”

“It’s not concrete yet, but, apparently, kids are stealing papers from other kids because the ones with bad grades keep disappearing. I don’t know why they would do that instead of doing their work. Kids will be kids, I guess. We’re about to pay one of the dropouts a visit. This is the biggest case we’ve had to tackle. It’ll probably be our defining case before we graduate.” Taeil explained.

“Ah, that’ sounds so cool!” Taeyong’s eyes lit up. “But, Taeil,” Taeyong clasped one of Taeil’s hands. It looked like it would start becoming a habit. “You look so tired recently. Have you thought of taking a break? We should go hang out!”

“As much as I would love to goof off,” Taeil slipped his hands out of Taeyong’s gentle grasp. “The education of some students is at stake here. So, I feel like the school has to be my first priority.”

“Aw, okay,” Taeyong’s puppy eyes made Taeil, almost, regret his rejection. “Then I’ll just come with you now,” Taeyong took Taeil’s hand and entwined his fingers with his. “You don’t mind this, do you?” 

“Uh, I kind of do-”

“He definitely does not mind,” Jimin interjected. “Feel free to hold tighter if you want, Taeil loves skinship. Anyway, we’re wasting time let’s get to the attendance office.”

“How are you gonna get his attendance through the secretary?” Taeyong asked.

“Student records have the list of absences and the address so, we’re killing two birds with one stone,” Jimin confirmed. “Pinpointing when Jeno went missing and finding out his residence.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” Taeyong asked.

“I don’t know, it might be,” Jimin shrugged. “It’s not like we’re breaking into his house though. Just a quick interrogation. Rough him up a bit if we ne-”

“He’s a first year.” Taeil pointed out.

“Okay and? It’ll send a message and then no one will skip school-”

“Shut up!” Taeil said. “I don’t want the secretary hearing about you wanting to beat up children, okay?” Jimin responded with an eye roll.

“What can I do for you guys today?” The secretary asked, not looking up. 

“We wanted Lee Jeno’s student record. He’s been ditching school lately and his mom called the police department because he hasn’t been home either. We thought we could get a gist of where he would be if we found out when he stopped coming to school.”

“Oh, sure let me just print it out for you and-” The secretary paused as she saw Taeyong and Taeil holding hands. She mouthed something to Jimin which she returned with a quick nod. Her response got an okay sign.

“What did she just ask?” Taeil inquired.

“Nothing, nothing. Let’s focus on what we’re supposed to be doing.” Jimin smiled.

Taeil ripped his hand from Taeyong’s grasp, his deduction skills were never wrong. “Yes, we do,” Taeil took the paper from the secretary and turned on his heel. “We’ve got some interrogation to do.”

“What are we gonna ask, by the way?” Jimin said. “Also, one of his parents is gonna answer the door. What do we say then?”

“We’ll say that we brought the homework he’s been missing out on.”

“Wouldn’t they be on it, the parents?” Jimin asked. “Like, if the parents aren’t making him go to school then someone must’ve told them something. Maybe they won’t even talk because they got told to shut up.”

“Let’s just hope his parents are at work.”

“Isn’t this an invasion of privacy?” Taeyong asked. “I mean, uh, I’m all for solving a mystery and stuff but I feel like we’re bordering on illegal activities.”

“We’re knocking on a door and seeing if he answers.” Taeil replied.

“But still, I feel like he would, I don’t know, send a message to everyone else who isn’t attending school? Maybe this isn’t what it looks like. All the kids could be in on it.” Taeyong suggested.

“Listen, we’ve got enough hard evidence to prove that this is definitely not a hoax. If he doesn’t answer, oh well. If he tells all his friends and whoever else isn’t attending, boo-hoo. We always get the information one way or the other.” Taeil said.

“That’s what I’m saying. A little bit of applied force to the neck could go a long way!” 

-

“Why did you decide to tag along if you were skeptical earlier?” Jimin asked, arms folded. “You seem awfully adverse to mysteries for someone who joined a club based around them. I guess that’s just your personality type then? Cautious in every way, including trying to court Taeil. Anyway,” Jimin cut herself off and rang the doorbell. “So, no scare-”

“No scare tactics. None, zip, zero, zilch. We are here to get information in an orderly manner and if you ruin it I will beat your ass.” Taeil said through angry whispers as he rang the doorbell.

“Geez,” Jimin nudged Taeyong. “This is the guy you’re into? It’s not too late to start having second thoughts, you know.” 

“Who are you?” The boy who answered the door was pretty. That’s the only word Taeil could think of that described him. The boy had a wide nose and big eyes which made him look like a puppy. Taeil didn’t believe this kid was delinquent for a second. 

“I’m Taeil, this twelve year old is Jimin, and the stoic dude behind me is-” 

“Taeyong.” The puppy cut off.

“You know this guy?” Jimin threw her thumb over her shoulder. “You seem to be getting around a lot for someone who just moved here. Are you sure you’re not a stalker? I didn’t call you that by the way. Taeil did.”

“Stay on subject,” Taeil growled. “Anyway, repeating what the little girl said, you know Taeyong?” Taeil inquired.

“I’ve seen him around a few times,” Jeno nodded slowly. “Uh, he’s getting pretty popular I think? Lots of people know him by now. Everyone knows good looking people don’t know? Some people know celebrities just by their looks.”

“That would explain why we’re not popular.” Jimin rubbed her chin and thought.

“Don’t lump me with you,” Taeil shot back. “Moving on, we just wanted to ask you a few questions. Your grades were not the best but that’s obviously no reason to stop showing up to school. Is something wrong? Are you sick?”

“Terminally ill?”

Taeil stomped on Jimin’s toes. She let out a loud whimper then a soft “I’m okay.” Her injury made her lean on the wall. Out of sight and out of mind. “What Jimin was trying to say is that it’s strange for you to disappear out of the blue. We asked some of your friends if they knew what was going on but it looks like you didn’t tell them much either. If you need help with anything you should talk to the school counselor or you friends if that’s what you prefer.” 

“Nothing is going on. I just don’t feel like coming to school. Is that a problem?”

“You won’t be able to get a job or start a family or be successful or anything if you don’t have a high school diploma,” It seems Jimin had fully recovered. Idiots never die. “So, even if you don’t want to try anymore you should do the bare minimum so you can get out there and graduate.”

“I agree. Laziness is no reason to skip school. You should always have perfect attendance and try your best-”

“Did you guys just come here to lecture me? I was in the middle of a gaming session you know. I thought you were the package I ordered. If I don’t want to go to school you can’t make me, okay?” Jeno sighed and was getting ready to close them off from his world via the door.

“Do your parents know you haven’t been to school for a really long time? Are they even here? Do they approve of this? Can’t you get arrested if your kid doesn’t show up to school for a long period of time?” Jimin tapped her foot, realized it was the damaged one and winced. “Are they at work? I want to speak to them. They could be going to jail very soon. Do you want to be a kid with no parents at all? You’re gonna have to get a job, health insurance, a spouse, and a 401k retirement plan. Are you ready for that? No. Because you don’t have a diploma or the desire to get one so you’re gonna die a very slow death.”

“Okay, let’s take it down a notch,” Taeil mimed lowering a bar. “But, she’s mostly right if you take apart all the unnecessary stuff. Do your parents know you’re doing all of this?”

“My parents? Uh,” Jeno seemed like he was at a loss for words. “They’re busy right now and not home.”

“I don’t think the word to describe that is busy.” Jimin pointed out.

“Taeyong, you’ve been silent this whole time,” Taeil turned around to look at him. “What do you think about this situation? Any useful deductions?”

“Uh, not really. Maybe his parents work long hours and can’t keep track of him all the time? Isn’t that common thing?” Taeyong shrugged.

“I guess that’s valid,” Taeil turned back to Jeno. “So you’re telling me your parents don’t know that you’re just sitting on your ass all day? What if I do tell them? What will they do? I got a hold of your address so I can get ahold of their phone numbers just as easy.”

“What the hell, I thought you said no violence.” Jimin pouted.

“You wanted to beat something up. Verbal bombardment and physical violence are two different things so shut up before I step on your other toe,” Taeil regained his composure. “I don’t think your parents would be too happy about this whole situation. It can all be avoided if we just go back to school. Tomorrow, of course. It’s a little too late for that now.”

“Thanks for clarifying,” Jeno said flatly. “I have to go now. My parents don’t like me talking to strangers. Good luck trying to contact them.” Before Taeil could retort Jeno slammed the door shut. 

“What did he mean by good luck?” Taeil asked to himself.

Taeyong laughed. “Who knows? That was kind of fun though, I have to admit. It was cool watching you guys interrogate and ask questions. You guys looked like professionals. The principal should consider funding a drama for you!”

“Why the principal?” Jimin asked. “That’s a really random thought.” She replied, turning to walk out of Jeno’s yard.

“W-well, uh, doesn’t he fund your club? The principal seems to like to hand out generous donations to people.”

Jimin gave him a look out of the corner of her eyes. “No, the local police department does. We can’t get funding because we don’t have five official members yet. I thought we told you this?”

“I guess I can’t retain information well.” Taeyong laughed. 

“Generous donations?” Jimin asked. “Are you okay? Are you high? I don’t think we should be smoking on duty. Is that against club policy?” Jimin asked.

“Shut up,” Taeil began to walk off Jeno’s property. “So, we have a brat who said good luck contacting his parents. That’s so odd.”

“So, you think something happened to his parents?” Jimin asked. “Didn’t really look like it affected him that much. Maybe he’s a sociopath. What if we’re dealing with some kind of crime syndicate? Wouldn’t that be cool! That would look great on a resumé”

“I think you guys are overthinking it!” Taeyong said. “He could be taunting you two or trying to throw you off track. I’m sure there’s nothing much to his words. The guy just seems to have bad grades.”

“Okay,” Jimin nodded. “That is a good a point. We should take that into consideration.”

“He wouldn’t need to derail us unless there was something to hide,” Taeil bit his nail. “Maybe That was a clue? Could his parents be in danger.”

“Oh, I really hope so. I’ve been itching for a good case.”

Taeil shot Jimin the coldest glare he could muster under the humid spring weather. “Don’t be inappropriate.”

“What? It’s not like they went missing he clearly knows their general whereabouts if he said good luck. Don’t get mad at me for wanting a thrill!”

“Maybe we should take a break for the day?” Taeyong suggested. “It’s hot and you guys seem like you’ll murder each other.”

“My house is in this neighborhood,” Jimin said. “So, I’ll be on my way,” They rounded a corner that took them out of the neighborhood and onto a busy street. “You can go have fun though,” Jimin pushed the two a little and turned on her heels. “I’ll text you later, Taeil!” Jimin’s voice echoed off the wall the street was sandwiched between.

“Do you have anything in mind?” Taeyong asked.

“I’m not hunger but I might die of a heat stroke in this school uniform,” Taeil loosened his tie and took off his blazer. “Something cold. Like ice cream from the convenience store. You got cash on you?”

“Yep!” Taeyong took his wallet out of pocket and dangled it between his index finger and thumb. “Can we think of this as a date? Maybe?”

“I’m gonna pretend that was the heat stroke talking to me,” Taeil wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I don’t think you want to see me all sweaty so let’s keep a fast pace.”

“I don’t mind,” Taeyong said as he walked with Taeil down the street. “What’s your favorite ice cream.”

“Pineapple but, in this weather, I’ll take just about any flavor.” Taeil responded.

“Aren’t you gonna ask me mine?” 

“Are you gonna say pineapple?”

“Yes.”

“Is this the part where I say we have so much in common and you look at me longingly, with a smile?” Taeil asked. “Because it’s way too hot for a spring romance. We can always try next year.”

“So you’re open to the idea of-”

“I’m open to the idea of going inside this convenience store for ice cream.” Taeil walked up to the door a swung it open. He stood in the doorway for to let the aircon’s glory hit every part of his body. 

“Close the goddamn door!” The cashier shouted.

“Dongyoung works here, by the way.” Taeil added.

“Yes, meaning that air you just let out is coming out of my paycheck!”

“Pipe down,” Taeil made a lowering gesture with his hand. “I’m a paying customer. It’s hot and I want ice cream so don’t treat me like a pedestrian today or I’ll snap.”

“Whatever.” Dongyoung grumbled and continued to read his magazine. Taeil never knew if Dongyoung was on shift or not.

“The ice cream is over here,” Taeil gestured and lead Taeyong through an aisle. Taeil snatched the ice cream out of the freezer and pressed it against his face. “Yea, that feels good.”

“You’re pretty interesting.” Taeyong commented.

“Thank you,” Taeil sighed. “I think I have a lot of personality. You need personality to be a detective according to the TV shows.”

“When did you become so interested in detective work?” Taeyong asked.

“I already told you our very first case,” Taeil said. “After that it was history. Helping Seolhyun was really fun. I guess helping people in general is really fun to me. I like to see the look on people’s face when they get the answer they need or we crack a case open that they couldn’t have done on their own. It’s rewarding. Tiring. But rewarding.”

“Tiring?”

Taeil began to eat his ice cream. “Just like this case. There’s not a lot of evidence. Just word of mouth. We visited Jeno and we got nothing. Seems like it’ll go nowhere unless we can find his parents. But it looks like that’s gonna be challenging.”

“I’m gonna be honest with you, Taeil,” Taeyong said. “This case is probably not as big as you’re making it out to be and we should probably drop it. Assignments get stolen all the time. I think we should just let the principal or some other staff handle this, you know? You can only do so much as a student.”

“You may be right,” Taeil nodded. “But I don’t like your work ethic. Why would I give it up when I barely started? If it’s challenging that’s good! It’s another knot on my headboard. I said it was tiring but I also said it was rewarding. People deserve their grades and it’s weird that people are getting away with academic theft when teachers are supposed to be taking their job seriously. This is just the beginning, Taeyong. And you just gave me a morale boost. I know what our next move is gonna be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ill finish this story if you give me kudos I PROMISE!!!!


End file.
